Weekend Surf Forecast 30 August - 1 September, 2019

The various states say sayonara to the 2019 winter in various guises. Stormy, onshore conditions remain in force across Sydney, Newcastle and locations south on Friday, before steadily cleaning up over the weekend – and that should culminate in good – even great conditions across all exposed breaks throughout Sunday through early next week. Further north, southern Queensland initially remains out of range of this activity – at least until some new easterly swell begins to pick up on Sunday.

Further south, Victorian and South Australian exposed, south and southwest facing beaches benefit from a couple of days of offshore, NE to northerly winds; opening up some good or even great beach-break options throughout Friday and Saturday, before westerlies resume on Sunday. That probably leaves South-western Australian coasts as the least desirable surfing region, with an active, late-winter storm-track lining up to deliver consecutive days of big, stormy onshore WSW swell in the 8 to 15ft range.

Spring is about to sprung. Photo: Uploaded to CW by Otwaydundee.

Sydney, Newcastle and the South CoastA complex short-term forecast leads a heap of new swell over the next few days; initially comprise of sizeable and consistent southeast windswell throughout Friday, before swell direction transitions to the east over the weekend and early next week. However, in the short term there’s a harsh, onshore reality keeping conditions in check throughout Friday. A broad low pressure trough extending off the northern NSW coast drives fresh onshore south-easterly winds across the coast in conjunction with a high pressure ridge to the southwest. The good news is conditions start improving as the system shifts further offshore on Saturday; opening up more manageable surface quality as swell-direction turns ESE. That looks like leading in a return to good-excellent conditions as winds swing offshore on Sunday morning, greeting a small to mid-sized easterly swell favouring the majority of exposed beaches all day.

FridayStormy SSE/SE windswell. Up to a junky 3 to 5ft+ exposed open and exposed breaks early, grading to 2 to 4ft elsewhere with size depending on exposure. WIND: SSE, SE 20 to 25 knots, easing later.

SaturdayCombination of short-period SE/ESE swell and underlying Southerly groundswell. Around 3 to 4ft+ exposed open and south facing beaches, grading smaller elsewhere with size depending on exposure and easing in the afternoon. WIND: SE 10 to 15 knots, easing and tending lighter ESE in the afternoon.

SundayESE swell levels off around 2 to 4ft across exposed open beaches, reinforced by new East/ENE swell in the afternoon.. WIND: Westerly, WNW 5 to 10 knots, tending NE 5 to 15 knots in the afternoon.

Onshore winds continue to wreak havoc on conditions Friday, before cleaning up over the course of the weekend. Photo: Uploaded to CW by AquaticH.

Queensland and Far Northern NSWWhile there’s a definite improvement in conditions taking shape on our forecast horizon, the short-term outlook holds pretty mediocre prospects – particularly for southern Queensland. A minor upswing in southerly swell setting in on Friday and Saturday will initially favour far northern NSW coasts – and it looks like it won’t be until Sunday that we start to see a gradual increase in easterly swell offering up a more equitable distribution of good surfing conditions across the region. While this isn’t shaping up as anything exceptional in terms of size and period, it should carry over at a fun size into early-mid next week.

FridayMinor building trend in Southerly windswell. Far northern NSW: Inconsistent 1 to 2ft+ sets across south facing breaks, picking up towards 2 to 3ft in the afternoon. Grading to 1 to 2ft along open beaches with size depending on exposure. Southern QLD: Around 1ft along exposed breaks, otherwise tiny to near-flat along open beaches and inside the points and bays. WIND: SW to SSW 5 to 15 knots, turning southerly 15 to 20 knots during the day, then SSE in the afternoon.

SaturdayCombination of short and long-period Southerly swell and slight East swell. Far Northern NSW: 2 to 4ft at the south-facing breaks, wrapping at 2 to 3ft along open coasts with size depending on exposure. Southern QLD: Around 1 to 2ft across exposed breaks, smaller along open beaches and tiny inside the points and bays. WIND: SW to SSW 10 to 15 knots, tending Southerly 15 to 20 knots during the day, SSE in the afternoon.

Northern NSW coasts hold the only surfing options - at least until a new easterly swell starts to bump up on Sunday. Photo: Uploaded to CW by tbanfield.

VictoriaThere’s a good window of surfing opportunity opening up across the exposed beaches as SW slowly backs off over the next few days. This follows the eastward migration of a high pressure system, moving across Victoria and Tasmania on Thursday and Friday before shifting into the Tasman Sea this weekend; setting up favourable ENE, NE winds on Friday, before freshening out of the north on Saturday and into early Sunday.

FridayReinforcing SW groundswell slowly eases under fading east to north-easterly winds. Improving 4 to 5ft sets along exposed beaches, wrapping at a lumpy 3 to 4ft along the Surf Coast reefs and smaller elsewhere with size depending on exposure. WIND: Early light ENE to NE 5 to 15 knots.

SaturdayFading SW groundswell under northerly winds. Up to 2 to 4ft along exposed beaches, dropping into the 2 to 3ft range during the afternoon. Wrapping at a slow 2 to 3ft along the Surf Coast reefs, smaller elsewhere and fading later. WIND: NNE, Northerly 15 to 20 knots, tending NNW during the afternoon.

SundayNew Westerly groundswell peaks early. Inconsistent sets up to 3 to 4ft along exposed beaches, wrapping at slow 1 to 2ft+ along the Surf Coast reefs, fading later. WIND: Northerly 15 to 20 knots, tending NW during the day, then shifting Westerly in the afternoon.

Exposed Victorian beaches are looking the goods over the next few days. Photo: Uploaded to CW by Dkimber.

Western AustraliaThe final week of winter is and effective write off with respect to surfing across the Southwest. Consecutive days of macking storm-swell, shredded by relentless, strong and gusty westerly quarter winds will leave little to the imagination over the next few days. You couldn’t pick a better weekend to be on the road – or in the air, heading for greener pastures.

There will be none of this across the Southwest for many days to come. Photo: Uploaded to CW by Jake Hayes.

South AustraliaThere’s some pretty fun looking winter conditions to be had over the next couple of days, before conditions turn mediocre again on Sunday. An east-bound high pressure system shifting across Bass Strait and into the southern Tasman Sea extends a firming ridge across the state on Friday and Saturday; supporting freshening northerly quarter winds across the region for what’s looking like a full 48 hours. This will see a range of small to mid-sized surfing options across South Coast beaches on both days, before winds revert to the west on Sunday.

FridaySSW groundswell slowly eases under light winds. South Coast: Sets up to 3 to 5ft around Waits and Parsons, wrapping at 2 to 3ft from Middleton to Goolwa. Mid Coast: around 0.5 to 1ft. WIND: NNE, NE 10 to 15 knots.

SaturdayLeftover SSW groundswell fades under offshore winds. South Coast: Ranging from 2 to 3ft+ at Waits and Parsons, wrapping at 1 to 2ft at Middleton. Mid Coast: WSW swell up to 0.5ft. WIND: Northerly 15 to 30 knots, tending NNW during the afternoon and easing later.

SundaySmall SW groundswell under westerly quarter winds. South Coast: Up to 2 to 3ft+ at Waits and Parsons, wrapping at junky 1o 2ft at best around Middleton. Mid Coast: Up to 0.5ft. WIND: NW to WNW 10 to 20 knots, tending Westerly, then SW and easing in the afternoon.

Northerly winds open up plenty of options on Friday and Saturday. Photo: Uploaded to CW by Pflagg.